Sewing machine



March 2' 1926.

A. B. FOWLER SEWING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 14, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 2 1926. 1,575,107

A. B. FOWLER SEWING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 14, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mew) March 2 1926.

A. B. FOWLER SEWING MACHINE Original Fiietl'Jan. 14, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 2, 1926 UNITED stares ALFRED B. FOWLER, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 01 new mnssy.

snwme MAGHINE- Applicatiqn filed Jenner 14, 1920, Serial N91 351%32- Renewed July 30, 1925.

To all 10 from it 'numy concern Be it known that I, Anrnnp B. Fownnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will en.- able others skilled 'n the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to inseam shoe sewing machines employing a curved hook needle and a looper.

()ne of the objects of the present invention is to provide novel and efiicient means for freeing the thread from the needle at the completion of the sewing. To this end a feature of the present invention contemplates the provision in a sewing mach ne having a hook needle and a looper, of means for moving the looper substantially lengthwise of the needle as the machine is stopped to render the operation of the looper inetl'ecs t-ive during the final cycle of operations of the machine. 7

Any suitable construction of looper and looper actuating mechanism may be utilized in the prectical application of the above feature of the invention. It preferred, however, to utilize a novel looper' construc tion which forms a further feature of the present invention and which may be used to advantage either with or without the features relating to the freeing of the thread from the needle.

Other features of the present invention consist in certain constructions, arrange ments and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilledin the art.

The several features of the present invention will be clearly understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view, partly in section, of a portion of the head of an inseam shoe sewing machine embodying the several features of. the invention in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is. a side elevation, partly in section, of the portion of the machine l u ra ed in Fig- 1;. F g- 3 s' a ie s m l r to .1 por on of ig- 2- ith ope ating disk 16' being interposed parts of the machine shown in one of the positions which they assume during the final cycle of operations of the machine; Fig.'-l is a sectional plan view taken on the line {l-4 of 3; Fig, 5 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of a portion of the looper actuating mechanism Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 but with the parts of the mechanism separated; Fig, 7 is a sectional plan view of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5 with the upper section of the casing removed, Fig. 8 is a similar view but with the upper section of the casing a guidingslide removed; and Fig. 9 is a. sectional plan view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 5 with the lower section of the casing shown in elevation.

The inseam shoe sewing machine illustrated in the drawings is provided with a cur ed h k needlen e e snide t an an awl or feed point (i which are actuated through suitable connections with the cam shaft ,8 of the machine. The illustrated machine is further provided with a looper .0 formed Qnthe or ard end f a hor z ta sli e 12 m unted in ng The looper is oscillated in a circular path shout the needle in timed relation to the other stitch foriningdevices of the machine by a connection between the looper carrying slide 10 and the cam shaft .8 This connection comprises-an Oldham coupling mounted within the casing 14. a disk 16 forming the floating men' bcr of the coupling and arranged eccentrically to the driving and driven of the coupling, the p y between the disks 18' and 20 end connected thereto by tongue and groove connections 22' arranged on opposite sides of the floating disk and at right angles to each other. The disks l8 and 20 are formed on the ends of shafts 2i and Q6 journal'ed in hearings or bosses '27 in the top and bottom walls o'f the' casing H. with the driven shaft 26 spaced a distnnce in front of the driving shaft 2%. The floating disk 16 is journa'led in an aperture in the looper carrying slide 12. Thelfooper carrying slide is guided by a slide 28 which has a transverse tongue and groove connection 30 with the top wall of the casing l i so that the slide is movable transversely and immovable longitudinally relatively to the casing 15 The gu ding sid 2 and t or ca yi isks 8 and ach other f rming members, respectively,

slide 12 are connected by balls 32 carried by the ends of the slide 28 engaging longitudinal grooves 34 in the slide 12. lVith this construction it will be seen that the oscillation of the shaft 24 of the coupling through approximately 180 will act through the floating disk 16 to move the looper carrying slide 12 bodily both transversely and longitudinally and these combined movements of the slide 12 will impart the desired oscillation to the looper.

The shaft 24 is thus oscillated by a gear 36 secured to the upper end of the shaft which is operativcly engaged by a segmental gear 38 formed on the end of one arm of a lever pivoted on a bolt 40 secured to the frame of the machine. The other arm 42 of the lever is connected by a link 44 with the upper end of a cam actuated lever 46, the link 44 being connected to the arm 42 and the lever 46 through ball and socket joints. The lever 46 is pivoted at its lower end on the frame of the machine and carries a cam roll 48 that engages a cam groove in one side of a cam disk 50 carried by the cam shaft 8 of the machine. Inseam shoe sewing machines are commonly provided with mechanism for stopping the machine in a position in which the needle is retracted from the work. It is also desirable in these machines that the needle shall be free of the thread when the needle is finally retracted upon stopping the machine. To secure this result the illustrated machine has provision for raising the looper sufiiciently as the machine is stopped to render the operation of the looper ineffective to lay the thread in the barb of the needle during the final cycle of operations of the machine.

The illustrated machine also has provision for returning the looper to its initial position upon again starting the machine so that the looper will lay the thread in the barb of the needle during the first cycle of operations. The casing 14 of the looper mechanism is mounted to slide vertically on lugs 52 projecting from the machine frame that engage grooves or ways in the end walls of the casing. he casing 14 is raised at the proper time to position the looper relatively to the needle so that its operation will be ineffective to laythe thread in the barb of the needle by means of a treadle controlled rod 54 that is moved upwardly substantially at the start of the final cycle of operations by mechanism hereinafter described. The connection between the casing 14 and the rod 54 comprises a lever 56 pivoted at 58 on the machine frame and having its forward end bifurcated to pivotally engage studs 60 on opposite sidesof the boss 27 on the upper wall of the casing 14. The rear end of the lever 56 is pivotally connected to the forward end of a lever 62 pivoted at 64 on the machine frame and having its rear end forked to engage the rod 54 between a pair of collars 66 on the rod, the lower collar 66 engaging the end of the lever 62 when the rod 54 is raised to rock the lever about its pivot, thereby raising the casing 14 and the looper through the connecting mechanism.

Upon again starting the machine into op eration the rod 54 is lowered to its initial position which permits the casing 14 and looper to be lowered to their initial positions by the action of a spring 68 bearing upon the upper end of the shaft 24, so that the looper will act to lay the thread in the barb of the needle during the first cycle of operations.

The rod 54 is actuated as above described by means of a stop mechanism which, as illustrated, is the same as the stop mechanism disclosed in applicants co-pending application for Letters Patent on an inseam shoe sewing machine, Serial No. 254,104, filed Sept. 14, 1918. This mechanism comprises an arm 70, to which the lower end of the rod 54 is pivotally connected, having one end secured to a rock shaft 72 and its other end pivotally connected to a treadle rod 74 which is connected to a treadle mechanism in the base of the machine. Upon depression of the treadle rod 74, the arm is swung downwardly and depresses the rod 54 to permit the looper to return to its initial position. The depression of the treadle rod 74 also acts through the arm 70, rock shaft 72 and a yoke 76 secured to the rock shaft to shift a clutch member 78 splined on the cam shaft 8 into clutching engagement with a driving pulley 80 which clutches the cam shaft to the driving pulley. Upon releasing the treadle 74, the arm 7 O is held from upward movement against the action of a spring connected with the treadle rod 74 until the cam shaft has reached a predetermined angular position, by the engagement of a projection 82 on the rock shaft 72 with alug 84 on a latch lever 86. hen the cam shaft has reached said predetermined angular position, the latch lever 86 is disengaged from the projection 82 by a cam lug 88 formed on the hub of a hand wheel 90 carried by the cam shaft engaging a roll on the upper end of the latch lever. This allows the rock shaft'72 and the arm 70 to raise the rod 54 a sulii cient distance to position the looper relatively to the needle so that the further operation of the looper will be ineffective to lay the thread in the barb of the needle, such positioning of the looper occurring at the start of the final cycle of operations of the machine. The movement of the rock shaft 72 when the latch lever 86 is released is limited by the engagement of a cam roll 92 carried by an arm secured to the rock shaft, with a cam 94 on the hub of the hand wheel 90, the driving pulley 80 being lOO maintained in engagement with the clutch member 78 at this time bymeans of a spring 96 acting on the inner side of the driving pulley. At the completion of a predetermined number of degrees of rotation of the cam shaft 8 after the latch lever 86 is released, the cam 94: permits the rock shaft 72 to be further rotated by the spring connected with the treadle rod 74. This additional movement of the rock shaft 72 acts through the yoke 76 to disengage the clutch member 78 from the pulley 80 and to bring the clutch member into engagement with a liireaking surface 98 on the machine frame which finally stops the machine.

\Vith this construction it will be seen that the machine is brought/to rest with the loop er in raised position, the looper assuming this position at the start of the final cycle of operations, and that upon again starting the machine the looper will at once he returned to its initial position so as to act effectively during the first cycle of operations of the machine.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated, and a machine embodying the several features of the invention in their preferred form having been specifically described, what is claimed is:

1. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, and mechanism for shifting the position of the looper rela-. tively to the needle without altering the shape of the path described by the looper as the machine is stopped to prevent the laying of the thread in the barb of the needle during the final cycle of operations of the machine and for returning the looper to its initial position relatively to the needle upon starting the machine into operation.

2. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, and means for moving the looper in a direction substantially lengthwise of the needle. to prevent the laying of the thread in the barb of the needle during a cycle of operations of the machine.

3. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, and means under the control of the operator for moving the looper in a direction substantially lengthwise of the needle to prevent the laying of the thread in the barb of the needle during a cycle of operations of the machine.

1 A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, and means for moving the looper in a direction substantially lengthwise of the needle as the machine is stopped to prevent the laying of the thread in the barb of the needle during the final cycle of operations of the machine.

5. A chain stitch inseam shoe sewing machine having, in combination, a hook needle and a looper, and means for moving the looper in a direction substantially lengthwise of the needle to render the operation of the looper inefl'ective to lay the thread in the barb of the needle during the final cycle of operations of the machine.

6. A sewing machine having, in combi nation, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, means for operating the looper, in two parallel planes, the operation of the looper in one plane acting to lay the thread in the barb of the needle and the operation of the looper in the other plane being ineffective to lay the thread in the barb of the needle, and means for shifting the looper from one to the other plane.

7. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, a looper carrying slide movable transversely and longitudinal- 1y, a guiding slide for guiding the looper carrying slide longitudinally and movable transversely with the looper carrying slide, and means for longitudinally moving the looper carrying slide relatively to the guiding slide and transversely with the guiding slide to cause the looper to traverse a path about the needle.

8. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, a looper carrying slide, a guide for the slide and means for moving the slide longitudinally with relation to the guide and transversely to cause the looper to traverse a path about the needle.

9. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, a looper carrying slide, and means for imparting combined rectilinear longitudinal and transverse bodily movements to the slide to cause the looper to traverse a circular path about the needle.

10. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, a looper carrying slide movable both longitudinally and laterally, a shaft, a cam, connections between the shaft and cam for rotating the shaft substant-ially one half revolution, and connections between the shaft and slide to cause the looper to encircle the needle by said actuation of the shaft.

11. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, two rotary members positioned eccentrically to one another, means for driving one of the members, a floating member interposed between the two first mentioned members and operatively connected with both members to look all of the members against relative rotation while permitting a relative reciprocatory move ment of the floating member, and connections between the looper and floating member to cause the looper to traverse apath about the needle.

12. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle and a looper, two rotary members positioned eccentrically to one another, means for driving one of the members, a floating member interposed between the two first mentioned members and operatively connected with both members by tongue and groove connections arranged transverse to each other 011 opposite sides of the floating member, a looper carrying slide loosely mounted on the floating member, and means for guiding the slide to cause the looper to move about the needle by the rotation of one of said two first mentioned members.

13. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a looper, and means for actuating the looper comprising an Oldham coupling having a driving member, a driven member, and a floating member interposed between and operatively connecting said driving and driven members, and a looper carrying slide mounted on the floating member.

14. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming mechanism including a hook needle and a looper, a looper carrier, a guide for the carrier, and means for mov ing the carrier on the guide and for moving the guide in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of the carrier to cause the looper to encircle the needle.

ALFRED B. FOWLER. 

